Santa Wears Blue
by Etapa
Summary: Dekaranger. Christmas only served to remind her that she was always alone. Pre-series, Hoji & Jasmine friendship.


**Disclaimer: **_Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger_ does NOT belong to me.

**A/N:** Finally I got to finish this. I know Christmas has been over almost a month ago, but I just had to get this done. Hope you like it.

* * *

**Santa Wears Blue  
**By Etapa

For as long as Jasmine could remember, she hated Christmas and all that came with it.

Things hadn't always been like that, obviously. There was a time when she, as a child, like anyone else at her age, had her time in which she believed in the Christmas spirit and in Santa Claus with the presents for the nice kids. Like any children at her age, she enjoyed the giddy feeling that flooded a person upon looking at the Christmas trees. Like the other kids, she also tried to stay up until late at night to see if she could catch a glimpse of Santa come by her house with his reindeers and leave a gift under the Christmas tree and in the stockings.

But it wouldn't be long before her beliefs suffered the first cracks.

She had been trying to decide which cookie to leave for Santa when he would come by to drop her gift.

"_Mommy, which one do you think Santa will like best?"_

Her mother looked at her, eyed the options and said. _"Just pick the butter cookies, sweetie."_

"_But I picked them last year. Won't he want something different?"_

**_Like your dad would mind. Those are his favorites._**

The girl made a face. _"Daddy can't eat them, they're for Santa."_

Her mother's attention was sharply turned from the dishes back to her, her eyes clearly showing surprise. **_Did I say it out loud?_**

The frown on her face was replaced by curiosity. _"Mommy, how did you talk without opening your mouth?"_

The only response from her mother was the dropping of the plate she had been holding.

That had just been the start of all. As she became more and more aware of what she was capable of doing as an ESPer, it didn't take much for her to learn the reality behind the myth of the good old man in the bright red suit. Yes, a myth, something told by parents simply to make the occasion more special to the children, nothing more.

That in itself might not have been _that_ big of a deal, even though the fantasy and the magical feelings that came with it had been shattered at once, _way_ before she had a chance to live it to its full extent like most of the kids. But who she was, and what she could do, did more than teach reality sooner to her than to others. It made people look at her differently, and avoid having too much contact with her, as if she was a freak and whatever she did could be contagious. Even her parents turned their backs on her; they, too, seemed to be freaked out by her abilities, as if they were some disease rather than a gift.

So while other kids were enjoying the Christmas with their families, and beaming with excitement over receiving and opening presents, she would spend the night all by herself, trying to fight the tears from the pain from being rejected by everyone. No one seemed to remember about her; not her parents, not Santa. Ah, wait, of course "Santa" wouldn't remember her; he didn't exist. The one truth behind the myth was the reminder of the existence of this dreadful day of the year.

How could anyone in her position not hate it?

* * *

"Jasmine?"

At a deep voice calling her, Jasmine was immediately brought out of her reverie. "Huh?"

The owner of the voice gave her a blank look before saying, "The light is green."

She blinked for a second before finally realizing what he meant. "Oh! Sorry," she apologized as she resumed the driving.

Had this happened a few months earlier, when she knew little about her colleague and barely spoke to him, she would have been mortified to no end. He was always so work-oriented, always so professional about everything, that she had had worries that if she put down her guard, he might think less of her as an officer. They had gotten to know each other better since then, though, and she knew by now that he would never look down on her.

Still, it didn't mean she didn't feel at least a little embarrassed. After all, while he did treat her with respect, it _was_ nearly all about work when it came to her fellow officer Tomasu Houji.

"You okay?" he asked. "It won't do much good if you're tired, we need to stay alert for patrolling."

Jasmine almost smiled at that. _Yep, that's Hoji._

"I'm okay, really. If anything unusual happens, I'll know."

Hoji looked at her for a second, but in the end said nothing more and turned his focus back to the streets, looking out for any suspicious activity. Jasmine quietly let out a breath of relief, glad that her colleague was never one to pry or press unless it came to questioning a suspect during a case.

As they stopped for another red light, the ESPer's attention went to the sidewalk.

It was crowded, like any big city awaiting a big Holiday would be. People were rushing, left and right, hands full of shopping bags and packages. Children would excitedly point at something they'd see; some parents would take them to the store, others would look briefly and shake their heads and move forward, but say something that would make the children forget about what they were talking about and get excited all over again. A very pretty Christmas tree stood in front of the mall, and next to it was a man dressed up as Santa, ringing a bell and waving to the children passing by, making them giggle and wave back.

Jasmine smiled bitterly before looking away and re-focusing her attention on the sign.

_Christmas... Santa Claus... It's nothing but a bunch of lies..._

And a painful reminder that she was alone and that she would always be so.

* * *

While almost everyone at SPD that was from Earth seemed to have plans for the big Holiday, Jasmine chose to stay on duty. As if that was the most natural thing of the world to do.

The ESPer was thankful that Boss never questioned it. She was also sort of glad that no one else really bothered to ask about it either. It'd hurt to just _hear_ the question "You're not doing anything for Christmas?" and it'd be even worse to see any signs of sympathy towards her. Last thing she needed was pity.

So here she was, sitting by herself at the DekaRoom and buried under a load of reports, busying herself by carefully reading each case before signing, therefore not allowing her thoughts to linger on anything else other than the huge amount of files in front of her. The paperwork alone would take her a good part of the day. As for the night, she had volunteered to be on patrol. She was kind of concerned about seeing the Christmas lights and hearing the Christmas music, but she hoped if she kept her focus on looking out for criminal activity, it would help her from being distracted by those.

She was so intent on concentrating on the paperwork that she completely failed to hear the doors open, or the sound of the footsteps that followed. It wasn't until a steaming mug of coffee was placed in front of her that she finally realized, with a startle, that she had company.

"You'll probably need that if you want to get it finished without falling asleep," Hoji said before taking a sip from his own cup of coffee.

Jasmine looked at her colleague, surprised. She hadn't seen him earlier, so she had automatically assumed that he, like anyone else from Earth, had taken the day off.

"What are you doing here? I thought you took the day off and..." she kind of trailed off, but she was sure that he knew exactly where she was getting at.

Hoji took a seat next to his colleague as he grabbed about half of the reports from the load that lay in front of her.

"Someone has to be around to watch out for the criminals," he said simply.

The ESPer frowned a little. "What about your sister? And about someone being around, that's what I'm here for, you know."

"Miwa was invited to a friend's," Hoji replied as he took the first file from the now his own pile of paperwork and opened it. Then a hint of a smile crossed his face as he added, "And you're not the only Space Police here, Jasmine." With those words, he became fully engrossed in the case report, no longer paying attention to anything else.

For a few seconds, all Jasmine could do was stare at her colleague. Finally, she just shook her head and went back to her own share of reports.

* * *

Jasmine tried to suppress a yawn as she headed back to her quarters.

The day had passed a lot faster than she had first expected. Thanks to Hoji taking up half of the paperwork, they were finished faster, so the two Deka went on patrol sooner than planned.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during their watch, unless one wanted to count as special the peppermint flavored coffee drink that they got for free when they had stopped at the usual place for some coffee. And though the streets were all decorated with the colorful lights that screamed Christmas, and the sound of Christmas carols invaded her ears, she had found herself not being bothered by any of it unlike the other times. Having Hoji with her as they patrolled and talked had allowed her to forget about the usual loneliness she felt during the Holiday, and everything else that the day brought with it. Somehow his presence had helped to lift up her spirits, and the ESPer even found herself truly laughing, something she had completely forgotten how to when it came to Christmas.

Despite the huge coffee drink she had had, she was really tired by the end of the shift. She was suppressing another yawn as she approached her room, when she noticed a small box lying in front of her door.

Curious, she carefully picked it up. It was kind of heavy for the size, making her wonder what it could be. Then she saw the card, and she quickly recognized the neat handwriting.

_You're not the only Space Police on Earth._

_Merry Christmas,  
__Hoji._

Immediately his earlier words echoed in the ESPer's mind.

"_You're not the only Space Police here, Jasmine."_

_You're not alone._

Tears welled up in Jasmine's eyes as she stared at the card. She quickly blinked, trying to avoid them as she slowly opened the package. A snow globe revealed itself, with an adorable scene of two snowmen putting a star on top of a small Christmas tree.

As she held the beautiful gift, she finally lost the battle and let her tears fall. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't stop a grin, followed by a soft but genuine laugh.

Maybe Santa Claus did exist after all.

But no one had ever told her that he wore _blue_.


End file.
